My Fellow Americans (or as S likes to call us, UnitedStatesians),

Okay, so I know I’m a day late and about a trillion dollars short, but I’m going to post what I’m grateful for this year. Yesterday got away from me: I spent the morning painting, the afternoon cooking, and the evening reveling in the chaos of a packed house of friends who have become family. Children alternated between racing around, dancing, eating, and snuggling. Adults moved from room to room catching up, playing chess or cards, eating, drinking, talking politics, smoking cigars, dancing, and snuggling. Interestingly, we flipped several stereotypes on their ass this year. My husband and I were not only the only white people, we were also the only democrats. A whole house full of black republicans? Really?! I had quite the debate while smoking a cigar with the men about politics and the direction our nation is going. I don’t think any of us changed our minds, but it was still really helpful to hear opposing views being voiced in a rational manner, not screamed at us from a podium or our TVs. I wish more civil discourse could happen that way, because we’re so much more likely to really consider the ideas being proposed when we don’t feel like someone is trying to shove them down our throats. I respect the hell out of the guys I was talking to, so I wasn’t able to just summarily dismiss their views as crazy talk. Plus, at the end of the night after all the politic talk, I got some really great snuggles from my “boyfriend:”

But anyway, I said I was going to post about what I’m grateful for this year. I’m grateful for all the usual blah blah blah stuff – friends, family, shelter, food, etc. But if you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time, you already know that I’m crazy grateful for all that stuff (either that, or you’ve figured out by now that I’m just plain crazy), and are tired of me talking about it. What I really want to focus on this year are the little things that make all the painful stuff we go through worth it:

• The top sheet, because it’s so easy to fold and put away in the linen closet.
• The bottom sheet, because it stays where it’s supposed to when it’s on the bed.
• Platypuses, because their front ends look like their back ends.
• Bourbon, because BOURBON!
• Tweezers, because they allow me to have two eyebrows instead of one.
• Cell phones, because they allow us to snap pictures of moments like the one above that I never want to forget.
• Boots, because they’re cute and keep me warm.
• Mechanical pencils, because they’re always sharpened and allow me to erase my mistakes and pretend I’m perfect despite all evidence to the contrary.
• Paint, because PAINT!
• Cats, because they can comfort me and make me laugh.
• Clumpable litter, because my house doesn’t constantly smell like cat pee and I no longer have to use a little box liner which never stayed in place and which required regular replacing.
• Refrigerators, because they keep my cheese cold.
• Cheese, because CHEESE!
• Asparagus, because ASPARAGUS PEE!
• The back of my dad’s arm right above his elbow, because it’s super soft.
• TV, because not only can you turn it on, you can turn it off.

I think that’s a pretty good list. There are obviously way more things to be grateful for, and I promise that I am. I’d like to end by adding one more thing I’m grateful for: you. You’ve given me a forum to voice my craziest thoughts. You’ve laughed with me, you’ve lifted me up when I needed it, you’ve helped me endure the dementia journey. So thank you, everyone.